AN ARTICLE FOR THE BEREAVED MOVING INTO A NEW YEAR. Grief in the new year is never easy. Whether your baby, child or teen died in 2023 or decades ago, when you are grieving, New Year's does not pass by without you thinking of, and yearning for, the person you love and lost. It is normal to feel strong emotions. It is normal to not know what to do with your feelings of grief. If you are early in the grief process, you may feel raw, angry or overwhelmed. One of the common grief experiences is to feel anxiety as "special days" approach. While grief over time may shift in its intensity and texture, this type of grief reaction is not unusual - though it is uncomfortable. Heather Stag, the founder of the Mindfulness and Grief Institute, wrote a piece regarding grief and the shift into a New Year on her website. She offers '6 Practical Tips' to assist people who are grieving and we love her ideas! We decided to share this article with you. "Coping With Your Feelings About Grief In The New Year"By Heather Stang, MA, C-IAYT Updated: January 1, 2024 The new year is a marker in time. As we transition from 2023 into 2024, you may be feeling ambivalent. Part of you may be digging in your heels, while another part can't wait for this awful year to end. However you are feeling, please treat yourself with compassion. Acknowledge your relationship with grief without judgement or shame. This will give you the space to tend to what hurts while loving the memories that remain. How To Face New Year's GriefAs with other holidays, anniversaries, and days that end in -y, feeling sad, angry, anxious, resistant, confused, detached, or any other difficult emotion is par for the course when you are grieving. Instead of fighting the reality that things are different, let go a little and allow yourself to do things a little differently than before. Planning how to approach the new year - from what to do on New Year's Eve when you are grieving to navigating milestone dates - can help reduce some anxiety. Even if you toss out those plans, the process of setting them will help. Here are a few ideas to help you cope with grief in the new year. 5 Tips to Cope With Grief in the New Year1. Focus on self-compassion and self-care instead of self-improvement.If you are grieving in the new year, you may want to skip the typical New Year's resolutions and instead focus on self-care for your grieving mind, body, and spirit. Simple things like getting good sleep, eating nourishing food, and exercising a little bit each day will help your body and mind support you during loss. However, do these things with an attitude of self-care instead of self-improvement, which is often implied in our resolutions. Don't add to your suffering by trying to attain an unrealistic goal. Instead, treat yourself as you would treat a beloved friend in the same position. 2. Create your own mantra to replace “Happy New Year.”If you are like most grieving people, the idea of being happy is a bridge too far from where you are right now, but since you are going to hear these words again and again, you may as well incorporate them into your self-care practice. Instead of feeling bad for not feeling happy, or angry that someone would assume you could feel happy, use these three ubiquitous words as a reminder to send yourself compassion. Try this: Each time you see or hear “Happy New Year,” offer yourself words of kindness that resonate with you. For example, “May I treat myself with kindness this year,” or “May I have a Compassionate New Year,” or simply “This is hard and I am doing my best.” This not only puts you back in the driver's seat so you have a modicum of control over your experience, but it is also a great bell of awareness that can remind you to take care of yourself. 3. Know that you are not leaving your loved one behind.When you cross the threshold of a new year without your special person by your side, it can feel like you are leaving them behind. That isn't the case. Yes, the annual change of the calendar is a marker that time is passing, but you will never forget your special person, no matter how many years go by. Take some time out early this year to reflect on the ways you carry your special person with you. What habits, likes, dislikes, hobbies, or mannerisms do you share with them? What are your favorite memories of your time together? If they are a blood relative, in what ways do you look like them? They have left their mark on your heart, and that will never go away. 4. Prioritize your grief-work with your new calendar.Instead of just scheduling things you have to do, use your new calendar to plan what you need to do to support yourself this year. Most people find holidays and anniversaries especially challenging. Record them on your calendar, and plan how you want to spend those special days. And knowing what you are going to do on these special grief-days may help reduce your anxiety. Whether scheduling coffee over Zoom with a supportive friend on your loved one's birthday, or joining a wider circle of friends and family to reminisce on the anniversary of their death, be sure to connect with others unless you really prefer to spend time alone. You can also plan ahead to attend grief support groups and memorial events through your grief group or bereavement organization. Prioritize your group by putting it on your calendar now, before work and other obligations take over. You can also block off self-care time for self-massage, yoga, journaling, or just free time to do as you wish. 5. Steady your mind in the present with meditation.The human brain is rarely fully present, and this is especially true when we are grieving. Part of us wants to fast forward and leave this awful time behind, but an even bigger part wants to turn around and sprint back to the time when our loved one was still alive. The reality, of course, is that we can't control the passing of time, but we can control what we do with our attention. There are countless ways you can learn to tame your mind with meditation, but I find that in the early days, months, and even years of grief, focusing meditation practices can be especially helpful. Try this: with your eyes open or closed, turn your attention toward your breath. As you breathe in, silently say to yourself – "IN". As you breathe out, silently say to yourself "OUT". Do this over and over each time you breathe, for three to five minutes. When your monkey mind wanders off, find your breath again and start over. It doesn't matter how often you need to begin again. After a few minutes, you may feel calmer and more in control of your own mind. 6. Join a compassionate grief group or community for compassionate support and practical tools.Time with people who understand you is one of the most helpful things you can do on your grief journey. In times of grief it is normal to feel alone and not understood by people around you. While not everyone experiences this, if it sounds familiar, you need to find your tribe. While not all groups will focus on a specific type of loss, the collective grief experience when shared with compassionate friends is very healing. If you can find a group where you can connect with people who are similar - either in the type of loss, relationship, or values - that can be extra helpful. | 
